1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecopier cover sheets and, more particularly, to a transparent telecopier cover sheet incorporating oppositely disposed membranes adapted for securing the telecopy document therebetween.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of telecopiers in homes and offices has become widespread. Telecopy transmission, commonly referred to as faxing, is literally a global form of communication. Consistent with this form of communication is the transmission of the faxed document by utilizing a fax cover sheet. The fax cover sheet is typically a document made of paper that is disposed of after use both by the sending party as well as the party receiving same. This is a waste of natural resources. Trees are needed to create the paper that quickly becomes trash. This action is also a waste of the time and energy necessary to handle the excess paper associated with conventional xe2x80x9cfaxing.xe2x80x9d
A variety of prior art methods and apparatus have been developed for creating solutions to the waste described above. The prior art solutions generally incorporate the use of a transparent fax cover sheet. Representative prior art embodiments are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,178,420, 5,431,451, and 5,435,601. As discussed in many of these patents, the improvements over the prior art generally include the ability to create a one-time writing upon a reusable, transparent fax cover sheet that has been secured against the document to be faxed. In this way, the party receiving the fax appears to receive a single sheet made up of the writing appearing on both. This effective combining of both permanent and temporary documents has found acceptance in certain business and related telecopying situations.
However, certain inconveniences, inefficiencies and problems are associated with certain prior art structures utilizing one or more embodiments of transparent fax cover sheets. One such problem is associated with the method of an apparatus for temporarily securing the paper document to be faxed to the transparent cover sheet. In some prior art embodiments, the paper document sealed is between plastic laminate. It may be desirable to change the paper document at one time or another, but it is also important to have the paper document securely affixed to the reusable sheet. The present invention addresses this problem by creating a transparent, reusable envelope for fax transmission of a paper document. In one embodiment, the envelope for securing the document includes opposing flap members for securing said document while allowing temporary writing thereon by virtue of the transparent cover sheet forming part of the envelope.
The present invention relates to a reusable, transparent telecopier cover sheet and assembly permitting securement of the document to be telecopied in engagement therewith. More particularly, one aspect of the invention includes a reusable telecopier cover sheet assembly for a document to be transmitted by telecopier. The assembly comprises a transparent membrane sheet having a size sufficient for covering portions of the document and securing the document thereto. A second membrane is disposed oppositely the first membrane and extends therefrom along a first edge thereof in engagement therewith for securing the document to be transmitted therebetween. The first membrane is also adapted for the application of temporary writing thereupon for communicating information in conjunction with the document to be telecopied placed therebeneath.
In another embodiment, the above referenced invention further includes the first and second membranes being made of transparent plastic and wherein the second membrane is an extension of the first membrane comprising a folded portion thereof. In one embodiment the assembly further includes a third membrane disposed opposite the first membrane and extends therefrom along a second, opposite edge thereof relative to the second membrane section adapted for use with the first and second membranes for the securement of a document for telecopying transmission thereof. In yet another embodiment the second and third membranes are each extensions of the first membrane comprising folded portions thereof. In yet a further embodiment, all of the membranes are made of transparent plastic.